Context
The Home Ministry issued new guidelines on how and when Vande Mataram should be sung or played at official events.
Key points
• Vande Mataram must be sung/played before the National Anthem whenever both are performed at an event.
• Audience must stand at attention when the official version (around 3 min 10 sec) is sung/played.
• No standing required if it appears as part of a newsreel or documentary because interrupting the film would cause disorder.
• The official version should be accompanied by mass singing during flag-unfurling, cultural events, or ceremonial functions (other than parades).
• If a band plays it, there will be a roll of drums before it begins to alert the audience.
• Schools may include community singing of the National Song once a week.
• The guidelines provide clarity on occasions, decorum, and the proper respect to be shown.
Vande Mataram
• Written by Bankim Chandra Chatterjee in the novel Anandamath (1882).
• Celebrates love for the motherland.
• Declared National Song of India (different from the National Anthem).
• Traditionally sung at formal state functions during arrival/departure of the President and at major official events.
